


i'm scared, can you hold my hand?

by lovelyflowersinherhair



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 01:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21291725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyflowersinherhair/pseuds/lovelyflowersinherhair
Summary: "Didn’t you pay attention at all in history?” She rolled her eyes. “Did Betty tell you about the creeper phone calls?”
Relationships: Alice Cooper/FP Jones II
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33
Collections: Southside Archive Falloween 2019





	i'm scared, can you hold my hand?

“I hate this holiday,” Alice said, as she stood in front of the living room couch, and slipped out of her blazer. “If you ask me, Riverdale should have cancelled Halloween.” 

“You don’t have to convince me otherwise,” FP said, his tone exhausted, and she bit back a sigh. “Come sit with me,” he offered. “We can watch television, or something.”

She dropped down beside him on the couch, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. Alice felt him drop a kiss into her hair. She was exhausted too. “Do you want to talk about it?”   
  


“A kid got shot,” he said after a moment. “They said that he would be okay, you know, at the hospital, but I never wanted to  _ ever _ see that. I never thought it could happen here.” He shook his head. “Then when that was taken care of, I got a call from Pop’s. Turns out that there was another serial killer in Riverdale today.” He sighed. “The Lodge girl almost fell victim to him.” 

“What?” Alice craned her head to look up at FP. It had been one thing when she had reported about the serial killer on the news. She had been impartial. A good reporter. It was her job. The fact that he had actually been  _ in _ Riverdale and had nearly murdered one of Elizabeth’s friends was somewhat unnerving. “Is she okay?” 

“She seems all right,” he said. “Shaken up, of course, but who wouldn’t be. She threw alcohol at him and it turned him into a fireball. He had to be airlifted out from Riverdale General.” 

“And where is Veronica?” 

“That butler of hers came and picked her up,” he said. “I offered to let her stay here. She said she didn’t want to.” 

Alice drew in a deep breath. “She’s staying at the Pembroke alone?” 

“I don’t think she’s alone,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that Archie’s with her.” 

This did not comfort Alice. Archibald was not a suitable replacement for anyone, let alone capable of providing the support that Veronica probably needed after she had almost become a murder victim. However, though it pained Alice to admit, he was probably slightly better at it than Hiram and Hermione would have been. This wasn’t a compliment. 

“I see.” 

“Jughead didn’t come home,” he continued. “Which pisses me off because he isn’t bothering to contact anyone, either. And I even called that school of his to try to get an answer from someone, you know, to see if they’d check on him? No one answered.” He shook his head. “Maybe I made a mistake when I told him to go there.”

“He’s probably sleeping,” she said after a moment. “It’s kind of late.” She snuggled closer to him. “If we don’t hear from him by tomorrow, we’ll go down to the school, okay?” 

“Yeah, okay.” 

The was a catch to his voice. “Honey, if you want to go today, we can. We can go right now.”

“That would only just piss him off,” he sighed. “I just don’t understand why he would blow his sister off.” 

“We’ll talk to him, okay?” She reached out for his hand and held it tightly in hers, more than willing to provide him the bit of comfort that she could. “Who knows what happened. We’ll ask him to explain why he couldn’t come up, and then we will go from there.” 

“We’ll…?”   
  


Alice nodded. “I told you, we’re a team. I want to be a partnership with you, FP. I don’t want this to be a one sided relationship. I think that we’ve both had that.” 

“I know, Alice.” She felt his hands as they ghosted down her sides, and she leaned into his touch. “I like the thought of that. Being a team.” She snuggled closer to him. “I just wish that it hadn’t taken us so long to get to this point. But that’s probably my fault. If I hadn’t--”   
  


“Don’t say that, FP,” she said. “Aren’t you glad that Charles is in our lives? That might not have happened if you hadn’t ditched me for Gladys.” 

“He convinced you to involve yourself wholeheartedly into that cult, Alice. And he might have believed that you were doing it to save Polly, or to have some insider scoop for one of your stories, but we both know the truth. You would have done anything to convince Charles that you were worthy of having around. The fact that he hasn’t realized it--”   
  


“Means nothing,” she said, her tone firm. “I know that Charles isn’t going to need us once we’ve outlived our usefulness. It’s just not something I am particularly fond of thinking about. So, just drop it, okay?”

“You don’t know that.”

“I don’t want to get my hopes up.” Alice sighed. “Every day it seems that there’s something new, FP. I don’t know how much more my nerves can handle.” She drew in a deep breath. “How are the children? Did you check on them?” 

“I assumed they were fine,” he said with a shrug. “Why wouldn’t they be?” 

“Why don’t we get changed into something more comfortable, and then we can check on JB and Betty?” 

Alice was exhausted. She wasn’t in the mood to lecture, so she was benevolently sparing FP. 

* * *

  
  
  


“I really don’t think that Charles is going to just ditch us, Alice,” FP dared to say as he stripped out of his uniform, and tossed it into the laundry basket near the door that led to the master bathroom. He stood in just his boxers and a t-shirt, debating whether to just sleep in them, while Alice was changing out of the suit she had worn. “I know that you don’t believe this,” he said. “But I think that he really wants to be in our lives. Get to know us.”   
  


“I don’t deserve it,” she whispered, as she slipped out of her dress pants, leaving herself in just a bra and underwear. “Not after what I did to him.”

“You were a kid--”   
  
“No, when I turned him away.”   
  


“Alice,” he said. “You were married to a prick. Who tried to kill you. You had no choice, and if he doesn’t get that, I swear to you, Alice. I will deal with him.” 

“You really don’t think that I’m terrible?” 

He crossed the room to where she stood, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a bear hug. “I don’t think that you’re terrible, Al. I think that we both fucked up and that we both made mistakes, but that you’re not a terrible person.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “And, Al, given that he let you infiltrate a cult…” 

“What?” 

“He better not have a damn grudge about that day.” 

Alice sniffled loudly. “I made my own--”

“Dad?” JB called out from the other side of the door, which was thankfully closed. “Are you in there?” 

“Just a minute, Jellybean.” He shoved a t-shirt into Alice’s arms. It was his, so it was long enough to cover anything she didn’t want Jellybean seeing, like her current state of disrepair, or the tattoo that covered her thigh. Once Alice was dressed, he padded over to the door and opened it. “What’s up? Who are you dressed as?”   
  


“Rosie the riveter,” Jellybean said, her tone biting. “Duh. Didn’t you pay attention at all in history?” She rolled her eyes. “Did Betty tell you about the creeper phone calls?”

“Phone calls?” Alice demanded. “No. What are you talking about?” 

“They really freaked her out,” she supplied. “Like, she made me lock myself in her room and she and Charles tapped them.”

Alice had paled rapidly. “What?” 

“Turns out it was Polly,” JB continued. “She pretended to be her creepy dad.” 

“Jellybean!”

“What, Dad? He is a creep.” 

“Is?” Alice’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I thought he  _ was _ dead?”   
  


“He is, Al,” FP said. “It’s okay. It was just a prank.”   
  


“But what if he wasn’t the Black Hood after all? What if it was Polly? If she was able to mimic him on the phone, what was stopping her from--”   
  


“Al. She’s in a locked facility. Even if she did have something to do with it, she can’t hurt you anymore. Neither can Harold.” He drew in a quick breath. “Jelly? Get Betty and bring her in here.” 

“What? Why?”

“Because she needs to know that hiding those phone calls was unacceptable,” he said. “Please, JB?” 

Jellybean glanced between him and Alice, and she gave him a nod. “Fine. I’ll go get her.” 

“Come here, Alice,” he beckoned. “It’s okay. No one can hurt you. Not while I’m around.” 

She sniffled. “I’m scared,” she said. “Will you hold my hand?” 

FP took his hand in hers, and squeezed it tightly. “It’s okay to be scared, Al. And I’ll hold your hand whenever you want me to.”


End file.
